'^^®  llloxs ; 


■  to)  ®#@x»  ■vz.-'r/?.  to-c-r/-;  vi-c^  fe^Hsxd  'cr'z.'cS'i  & ! 


AN 


ORATION, 


DELIVERED  BY 


THE  HONORABLE  WILLIAM  W.  CAMPBELL, 


•Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York, 


FEBRUARY  23d,  1852, 


AT  METROPOLITAN  HALL, 


NEW  YORK  CITY, 


ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  CELEBRATION  OF  THE  BIRTH  DAY  OF 


©rto  of  Unite*  Americana. 


NEW  YORK : 

Hi  R.  PIERCY,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTER. 


1852. 


mm 


hiHUHLii 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


http://archive.org/details/orationdeliveredOOcamp 


ORATION, 

DELIVERED  BY 

THE  HONORABLE  WILLIAM  W.  CAMPBELL, 

JUDGE  OP  THE  SUPERIOR  COXTET  OF  NEW  YOKE. 

FEBRUARY  23d,  1852, 

AT  METROPOLITAN  HALL, 

NEW  YOKK  CITY, 

ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE  CELEBEATION  OF  THE  BIETH  DAY  OF 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 

BY 

ORDER  OF  UNITED  AMERICANS. 


NEW  YOEK: 

H.  E.  PIEECY,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PEINTEE. 
1852. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


New  York,  March  12th,  1852. 

HON.  WILLIAM  W.  CAMPBELL, 

Dear  Sir  axd  Brother, 

At  a  Regular  Session  of  the  Chancery  0.  IT.  A.,  State  of 
New  York,  held  on  the  1st  inst.,  the  undersigned  were  appointed  to  solicit  (for  publication) 
a  copy  of  the  Oration  pronounced  by  you  before  the  Order,  at  Metropolitan  Hall,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  celebration  of  the  one  hundred  and  twentieth  Anniversary  of  the  birth-day 
of  the  immortal  WASfflNGTON! 

In  making  this  request,  the  undersigned  deem  it  unnecessary  to  urge  any  reason 
for  your  compliance  other  than  the  unanimous  approval  with  which  your  sentiments  were 
received  on  that  occasion,  as  well  as  the  desire  of  Brethren  generally  to  preserve  a  copy  of 
the  Oration  in  their  families. 

Truly  and  fraternally, 

Yours, 

C.  GOODRICH  BOYCE,  ) 

thos.  r.  Whitney,   >  Committee, 

MINARD  LAFEVERj  ) 


C.  Goodrich  Botce, 
Thos.  R.  Whitxet, 
Minard  Lafevee,  Esqs. 

Gentlemen, 

I  am  in  the  receipt  of  your  kind  letter  of  the  19th 
inst.,  and  send  herewith  pursuant  to  your  request,  a  copy  of  the  Address  delivered  by  me 
before  the  Order  of  United  Americans,  on  the  23d  of  last  month. 

Please  present  my  thanks  to  the  Order  for  the  patient  hearing  and  the  cordial  recep- 
tion which  they  gave  me  on  that  occasion,  with  my  warmest  wishes  for  their  success  in 
their  patriotic  labors,  and  receive  for  yourselves  the  grateful  acknowledgments  of 

Your  Friend  and  Brother, 


New  Yoi%  March  23d,  1852. 


WILLIAM  W.  CAMPBELL. 


ORATION 


My  Fellow-Citizens — 

Members  of  the  Order  of  United  Americans: 

I  greet  you  with  a  brother's  greeting,  on  this  Anniversary  of  the 
birthday  of  Washington.  We  have  all  turned  aside  from  our  customary  la- 
bors, to  pay  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  him,  to  whom,  more  than 
to  any  other  individual  under  the  providence  of  God,  our  republic,  this  the 
great  republic  of  modern  times,  owes  its  existence  and  its  prosperity.  To  all, 
then,  who  gather  here  to  worship  with  us  around  the  altar  of  our  common 
country,  to  all  who  feel  the  beatings  of  patriotic  American  hearts  in  their 
bosom,  I,  in  the  name  of  the  United  Americans,  and  as  their  representative  on 
this  occasion,  give  a  cordial  welcome. 

One  hundred  and  twenty  years  have  passed  since  George  Washington  was 
born — years  which  have  been  fruitful  in  great  events — years  in  which  more 
changes  have  been  wrought — more  revolutions  in  government  effected — more 
improvements  in  arts  and  sciences  made,  than  in  any  similar  period  since  the 
world  began. 

The  year  1732  may  be  considered  by  all  Americans,  as  a  memorable  one. 
In  that  year,  the  charter  of  the  last  of  the  old  thirteen  colonies  of  England,  the 
•Colony  of  Georgia,  was  granted.  Its  planting  originated  in  motives  honora- 
ble to  our  nature,  and  the  distinguished  leader  and  founder  of  the  colony,  Gen. 
James  Ogelthorpe,  was  a  soldier  and  a  statesman.  With  him  came  to  America 
John  and  Charles  Wesley,  the  first  of  that  great  Christian  denomination  the 
Methodists,  who  from  that  time  to  the  present  have  done  so  much  for  the  promo- 
tion of  religion  in  this  Western  world.  During  one  hundred  and  twenty -five 
years  previous,  the  planting  of  the  colonies  had  been  going  forward,  commencing 
with  Virginia,  in  1607 — followed  by  New  York  in  1612,  by  Massachusetts  in 
1620,  and  by  the  other  colonies  at  different  intervals  down  to  1732.  At  that, 
time  the  whole  population  of  Virginia  did  not  exceed  sixty  thousand ;  that, 
of  New  York  was  about  the  same ;  South  Carolina  had  only  twelve  thousand. 


4 


ORATION. 


The  whole  population  of  the  thirteen  colonies  did  not  probably  exceed  half  a 
million — less  than  the  present  population  of  our  own  noble  city. 

But  the  charter  for  the  last  colony  had  been  granted ;  George  Washing- 
ton was  born  in  the  same  year,  and  the  first  act  in  the  great  drama  of  Ame- 
rican history  closed,  and  the  curtain  fell  to  rise  on  new  and  stirring  scenes. 

Spain  had  possessed  herself  of  the  greater  part  of  South  America,  and  of 
the  West  India  islands,  while  France — the  great  antagonistic  power  of  Eng- 
land— had  planted  her  colonies  in  various  parts  of  North  America.  In  Canada, 
in  the  valley  of  the  great  West,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the 
subjects  of  the  French  Monarch  had  found  a  home ;  and  if  the  flag  of  Eng- 
land— the  Cross  of  St.  George — floated  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  from 
Massachusetts  to  Georgia,  the  banner  of  France — the  Lily  of  the  Bourbon — 
waved  upon  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Mississippi. 

The  occupation  of  different  portions  of  America  by  the  three  great  Euro- 
pean powers — England  France  and  Spain — the  desire  of  each  to  monopolize 
the  trade  of  their  respective  colonies,  and  the  attempts  of  each  to  evade  the 
commercial  restrictions  of  the  others,  tended  to  increase  the  feelings  of  jea- 
lous}'  and  hostility  which  had  been  engendered  by  their  frequent  wars  and 
rivalries.  The  war  known  in  America  as  the  first  French  War,  was  commenced 
by  France  against  England,  in  1744,  and  closed  with  the  peace  of  Aix  la 
Chapelle  in  1748.  In  this  war,  the  American  Colonists  were  actively  engaged, 
especially  those  of  New  England,  whose  hardy  sons  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in 
the  capture  from  France  of  the  city  and  fortress  of  Louisburgh.  After  de- 
scribing this  siege,  Mr.  Bancroft  remarks  that  "the  strongest  fortress  of  North 
America  capitulated  to  an  army  of  undisciplined  New  England  mechanics, 
farmers  and  fishermen." 

In  this  war  George  Washington  took  no  part.  His  occupation  and  his  fu- 
ture career  are  thus  graphically  sketched  by  the  eloquent  historian  to  whom  I 
have  just  referred: 

"  Thus  after  long  years  of  strife,  of  repose  and  of  strife  renewed,  England 
and  France  solemnly  agreed  to  be  at  peace.  The  treaties  of  Aix  la  Chapelle 
had  been  negotiated  by  the  ablest  statesmen  of  Europe  in  the  splendid  forms 
of  Monarchical  diplomacy.  They  believed  themselves  the  arbiters  of  mankind 
— the  pacificators  of  the  world — reconstructing  the  colonial  system  on  a  basis 
which  should  endure  for  ages ;  confirming  the  peace  of  Europe  by  the  nice  ad- 


ORATION. 


5 


_  justment  of  material  force.  At  the  very  time  of  the  Congress  of  Aix  la  Cha- 
pelle,  the  woods  of  Virginia  sheltered  the  youthful  George  Washington,  the 
son  of  a  widow.    Born  by  the  side  of  the  Potomac,  beneath  the  roof  of  a 

[^Westmoreland  farmer,  almost  from  infancy,  his  lot  has  been  the  lot  of  an  or- 
phan. Ko  academy  had  welcomed  him  to  its  shades ;  no  college  crowned  him 
with  its  honors — to  read,  to  write,  to  cipher,  these  had  been  his  degrees  in 
knowledge.  And  now  at  sixteen  years  of  age,  in  quest  of  an  honest  main- 
tenance, encountering  intolerable  toil,  cheered  onward  by  being  able  to  write 
to  a  school-boy  friend :  '  Dear  Kichard,  a  doubloon  is  my  constant  gain  every- 
day, and  sometimes  six  pistoles ' — himself  his  own  cook,  having  no  spit  but  a 
forked  stick,  no  plate  but  a  large  chip,  roaming  over  gpurs  of  the  AUeganies 
and  along  the  banks  of  the  Shenandoah ;  alive  to  nature,  and  sometimes 
^spending  the  best  of  the  day  in  admiring  the  trees  and  richness  of  the  land; 
among  skin-clad  savages,  with  their  scalps  and  rattles,  or  uncouth  emigrants,' 
that  would  never  speak  English ;  rarely  sleeping  in  a  be  d,  holding  a  bearskin 
a  splendid  couch ;  glad  of  a  resting  place  for  the  night  upon  a  little  hay,  straw 
or  fodder,  and  often  camping  in  the  forest,  where  the  place  nearest  the  fire  was 
a  happy  luxury,  this  stripling  surveyor  in  the  woods,  with  no  companion  but 
his  unlettered  associates,  and  no  implements  of  science  but  his  compass  and 

•  chain,  contrasted  strangely  with  the  imperial  magnificence  of  the  Congress  of 
Aix  la  Chapelle.  And  yet  God  had  selected  not  Kaunitz  nor  Newcastle,  not 
a  monarch  of  the  House  of  Hapsburgh,  nor  of  Hanover,  but  the  Virginia 
stripling  to  give  an  impulse  to  human  affairs,  and  so  far  as  events  can  depend 
on  an  individual,  had  placed  the  rights  and  destinies  of  countless  millions  in 
the  keeping  of  the  widow's  son." 

But  the  peace  negotiated  at  Aix  la  Chapelle,  with  so  much  pomp,  was  not 
of  great  duration.  Again  the  war  between  England  and  France  was  resumed, 
and  now  America  was  destined  to  be  the  principal  battle  field.  France  was 
endeavoring  by  a  chain  of  military  posts  to  connect  Canada  with  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  to  maintain  undisputed  dominion  over  the  great  valley  of  the 
Mississippi.  The  question  now  to  be  decided  was  that  of  supremacy  upon 
this  Continent.  Armies  pursued  their  way  up  rivers  and  over  morasses,  and 
plunged  into  the  wilderness  where  before  the  daring  hunter  or  the  wild  Indian 
liad  alone  made  their  home.  The  Englishman  and  the  Anglo-American  fought 
-side  by  side  against  Frenchmen  and  the  colonists  of  France,  and  the  blood  of 


ORATION. 


all  mingled  together  at  Ticonderoga,  on  the  heights  of  Abraham  around  the 
walls  of  Quebec,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Monongahela.  When  this  war  ter- 
minated, the  banner  of  France  went  down  in  North  America,  and  from  the  polar 
regions  of  the  North,  to  Florida  on  the  South,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Mississippi,  the  meteor  flag  of  England  floated  in  triumph  and  alone. 

In  1763,  the  end  of  the  last  French  War,  the  curtain  fell  at  the  close  of  the 
second  act  in  the  great  drama  of  American  history — and  it  fell  to  rise  on  scenes 
of  momentous  interest  not  only  to  the  then  British  Colonies  of  North  America, 
but  as  we  believe  to  the  whole  European  race. 

The  triumph  of  England  over  France  on  this  continent  had  been  purchased 
at  great  expense.  Though  the  war  was  not  begun  or  prosecuted  for  the 
especial  benefit  of  the  American  Colonies,  yet  it  was  alleged  that  the  result 
would  be  of  advantage  to  them,  and  that  they  ought  to  sustain  their  portion  of 
the  expense.  The  first  proposition  to  tax  the  colonies  was  answered  by  the 
passage  of  the  celebrated  Stamp  Act.  This  act  was  repealed  only  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  others  ;  the  English  government  asserting  their  right  to  tax  the  colo- 
nies, and  our  fathers  from  the  outset  sternly  and  manfully  denying  that  right. 
The  war  of  the  revolution  followed.  The  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
made,  proclaiming  the  right  of  man  to  self-government.  The  colonies  were 
triumphant,  and  in  1783,  just  twenty  years  from  the  close  of  the  second  French 
war,  the  flag  of  England  went  down  over  all  the  country  south  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, and  the  stars  and  the  stripes  floated  upon  the  land  and  the  sea,  and  the 
United  States  took  rank  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

But  though  independence  was  acknowledged,  the  government  can  hardly  be 
said  to  have  been  fairly  organized  till  1789,  when  our  present  noble  Constitution 
went  into  operation,  with  George  Washington  unanimously  elected  the  first 
President.  That  Constitution  commences  with  this  sublime  and  ever  to  be 
remembered  declaration : 

"  We,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,... 
establish  justice,  ensure  domestic  tranquility,  provide  for  the  common  defence,., 
promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and 
our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United  States  of 
America." 

Let  every  American  study  and  consider  this  declaration.  With  the  govern- 
ment organized  under  this  Constitution,  the  curtain  rose  upon  the  last  great 


ORATION. 


7 


.act  in  the  historical  drama  of  America.  The  results  of  toils  and  sacrifices  were 
.now  made  manifest  to  the  world. 

I  have  presented  this  brief  outline  of  the  history  of  our  country  for  the  pur- 
pose of  enabling  me  more  clearly  and  distinctly  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
-  causes  to  which  under  the  Providence  of  God  our  fathers  were  indebted  for  such, 
eminent  success.  Permanent  free  governments  are  not  organized  by  chance, 
nor  are  they  the  results  of  one  day's  sacrifice.  The  individuals  who,  aggregated, 
•constitute  the  nation,  must  be  trained  up  for  free  governments.  It  was  with  a 
great  price  that  our  fathers  purchased  their  freedom,  and  enabled  us  to  say  in 
.■the  language  of  the  great  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  that  as  for  ourselves — we  are 
free-born.  From  the  earliest  settlement  of  America,  in  all  the  colonies  and 
•provinces,  colonial  and  provincial  legislatures  were  organized,  and  the  great 
principles  of  English  liberty  were  recognized  and  sustained.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, until  the  controversies  with  France,  that  full  scope  was  given  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  legislative  powers. 

It  was  for  the  interest  of  England  that  her  movements  should  be  seconded 
with  all  the  power  of  the  colonies,  and  by  all  the  means  at  their  disposal. 
Their  pride  and  their  patriotism  were  appealed  to,  and  they  made  large  contri- 
butions of  men  and  of  money  to  carry  on  the  wars  of  the  mother  country.  The 
frequent  assembling  of  legislative  bodies  brought  the  influential  men  of  the 
colonies  into  close  connection,  and  produced  constant  interchange  of  senti- 
ments and  views,  while  at  the  same  time  the  union  of  the  troops  of  various 
provinces  brought  together  the  military  men,  and  they  were  disciplined  and 
taught  by  some  of  the  best  of  European  officers.  In  this  way  during  the  French 
wars,  the  whole  generation  to  which  Washington  belonged,  was  trained  up  as 
.  soldiers  and  statesmen. 

It  would  be  easy  to  follow  out  the  individuals  and  show  how  large  a  number 
of  those  who  subsequently  acted  conspicuous  parts,  had  been  educated  in  that 
school. 

All  the  legislative  powers  and  experiences  of  the  people  were  brought  into 
active  requisition  when  the  War  of  the  Kevolution  broke  out.  Every  hamlet 
and  precinct  had  its  organization,  and  if  there  were  not  two  to  unite,  the  single 
man  would  call  a  meeting  of  himself,  and  pass  his  resolution  and  sign  his 
pledge. 

The  District,  the  Town  Council,  the  County  Committee,  the  State  Legislature, 


8 


ORATION. 


the  Continental  Congress,  carried  the  single  individual  forward,  and  united  him 
in  the  common  cause  with  all  his  fellow  patriots.  At  the  very  commencement 
of  the  revolution,  form  was  given  to  a  republican  government. 

I  have  said  the  men  were  trained  up  for  their  work.  Take  our  illustrious 
man  as  an  example.  We  have  seen  that  at  the  close  of  the  first  French  war  he 
was  a  youthful  surveyor  amid  the  wild  mountains  and  primeval  forests  of 
Western  Virginia.  In  the  second  French  war  he  was  with  General  Braddock 
when  he  sustained  such  a  signal  defeat  on  the  banks  of  the  Monongahela — de- 
feated because  he  did  not  follow  the  advice  of  the  then  youthful  soldier.  Sub- 
sequently Washington  was  a  member  of  the  house  of  Burgesses  of  his  native 
state — was  elected  a  member  of  the  first  Continental  Congress — made  Com- 
mander-in-Chief— then  President  of  the  Convention  which  gave  to  us  our 
present  Constitution,  and  then  elected  to  fill  the  office  of  the  first  President  of 
the  United  States. 

In  our  State,  the  Schuylers,  the  Clintons,  and  other  distinguished  men,  had 
been  trained  up  both  in  arms  in  French  and  Indian  wars,  and  as  public  men 
in  our  Provincial  Legislature. 

The  condition  of  the  people  at  the  period  of  the  revolution  was  eminently 
favorable  to  their  success.  They  were  neither  poor  nor  rich ;  they  were  not 
driven  by  want  to  abject  submission,  or  to  extreme  radicalism,  nor  by  fear  of 
losing  great  wealth  to  ultra  conservatism.  They  owned  a  fertile  soil  from 
which  they  chiefly  drew  their  subsistence,  and  they  had  hardy  frames  with 
which  to  cultivate  it.  They  were  enured  to  labor  and  accustomed  to  the  use  of 
arms  from  early  youth.    Education  prevailed  among  all  classes. 

The  great  mass  of  the  people  were  religiously  educated.  When  they  declared 
that  all  men  were  created  equal,  and  endowed  with  certain  unalienable 
rights,  they  proclaimed  that  those  rights  were  given  to  them  by  their  Creator, 
and  they  believed  it — and  when  they  pledged  themselves  to  support  that  decla- 
ration with  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  honor,  they  did  so  relying  "on 
the  protection  of  Divine  Providence." 

I  may  remark  that  the  introduction  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of 
this  acknowledgment  of  a  responsibility  to  the  Kuler  and  Creator  of  all  men, 
was  not  a  mere  flourish,  nor  casually  inserted.  The  expressions  "  appealing 
to  the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  World  for  the  rectitude  of  our  intentions,"  and 
"with  a  firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,"  are  not  found  in? 


O  R  ATION. 


9 


the  original  draft  of  the  Declaration,  they  were  afterwards  inserted  by  the  direct 
action  of  Congress. 

The  Patriots  of  the  Revolution  believed  with  Cromwell  that  he  who  prays 
best  will  fight  best,  and  they  prayed  and  fought  on  during  a  seven  years  war. 
Such  men  may  be  destroyed,  they  cannot  be  conquered  and  subdued. 

The  institutions  under  which  we  live  were  not  the  fruits  of  the  American 
revolution  alone.  The  germ  lay  farther  back,  and  was  developed  and  ripened 
by  that  great  event. 

We  have  seen  how  men  were  trained  up  for  that  great  contest,  and  how  they 
were  prepared  to  establish  a  government  by  which  liberty  should  be  regulated 
by  law. 

Experience  is  the  teacher  of  individuals,  and  says  Fisher  Ames,  "  experience 
is  the  only  teacher  of  Nations."    Nations,  like  individuals,  must  be  trained  up 
for  freedom.    The  descendants  of  Abraham  were  the  chosen  people  of  God. 
Under  the  direction  of  their  great  leader  and  law-giver,  they  commenced  that 
ever  memorable  journey  towards  the  home  of  their  fathers.    But  though  they 
had  seen  the  river  turned  into  blood ;  though  the  sea  had  rolled  back  and  they 
had  walked  in  its  midst  upon  dry  land:  though  they  had  beheld  the  cloud  by* 
day  and  the  pillar  of  lire  by  night,  and  had  heard  the  voice  of  the  Almiglitv 
speaking  in  the  thunder,  when  it  would  seem  that  confidence  in  the  future 
should  have  entirely  possessed  them,  yet  at  the  first  temporary  inconvenience 
they  murmured  and  rebelled,  they  longed  for  the  waters  of  the  Nile  and  the 
flesh  pots  of  Egypt,  and  desired  to  return  to  the  land  of  bondage.    How  could' 
such  a  people  expect  to  be  the  founders  of  a  great  nation  in  a  distant  land. 
Hence  God  suffered  them  to  die  by  the  way  side,  and  a  new  generation  of  men 
born  and  educated  freemen,  and  upon  whose  necks  there  were  no  marks  of  the 
Egyptian  yoke,  was  raised  up  to  drive  out  the  Canaanites  and  to  found  a  gov- 
ernment in  the  Land  of  Promise.    From  the  time  of  that  remarkable  exodus 
down  to  the  present,  in  all  ages,  and  under  every  variety  of  circumstance,  no 
people  have  ever  been  able  to  pass  at  once  from  despotism  to  freedom,  and  to 
maintain  for  any  length  of  time  the  principles  of  a  truly  free  government.  The 
revolutionary  movements  in  Europe  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and  the 
republics  which  then  sprung  into  existence  confirm  this  view. 

We  have  seen  during  the  past  few  years  events  occurring  again  on  the  con- 


10 


ORATION. 


tinent  of  Europe  which  may  well  excite  our  doubts  as  to  the  capacity  of  conti- 
nental nations  to  sustain  a  republican  government. 

It  happened  to  me  to  be  in  London  four  years  ago  this  day,  when  the  last 
French  Revolution  commenced,  and  when  a  few  days  thereafter  Louis  Philippe 
fled  there  for  protection,  when  landing  on  the  coast  of  England  he  might  have 
addressed  her  in  the  language  of  Cardinal  Wolsey  before  the  door  of  the  Ab- 
bey in  the  city  of  Leicester — 

"  An  old  man  broken  with  the  storms  of  State, 
Has  come  to  lay  his  weary  bones  among  ye. 
Give  him  a  little  earth  for  charity." 

The  French  nation  was  aroused — Germany  followed,  and  Italy  was  in  a  blaze 
— Thrones  tottered  and  fell — Monarchs  were  exiled — Monarchies  vanished  and 
Republics  sprung  up — the  people  had  their  own  destinies  in  their  own  hands, 
and  what  has  been  the  result — let  the  present  condition  of  the  Continental  na- 
tions of  Europe  answer.  And  now,  as  if  to  crown  the  whole,  France,  boasting 
so  loudly  of  democracy,  has  by  the  voice  of  millions  spoken,  too,  through  the 
ballot  boxes — given  to  one  man  a  power  scarcely  exercised  by  the  most  des- 
potic monarchs  of  earth.  How  can  we  sympathize  with  such  republicanism  ? 
♦How  can  we  be  expected  to  put  faith  in  such  revolutionists  ?  And  yet  the 
history  of  Europe  in  our  day  is  but  the  history  of  our  race,  and  he  who  has 
read  history  right,  will  not  be  disappointed  at  the  result. 

There  are  causes  operating  in  Europe  which  lead  the  majority  of  the  people 
to  desire  a  stable  government.  Thus  the  eloquent  historian  of  England 
(Macaulay)  referring  to  the  great  change  which  has  taken  place,  since  Monarchs 
were  dethroned,  and  oppressive  laws  resisted  by  the  uprising  of  the  people  in 
arms,  says: 

"In  the  mean  time  the  effect  of  the  constant  progress  of  wealth  has  been  to 
make  insurrection  far  more  terrible  to  thinking  men  than  maladministration. 
Immense  sums  have  been  expended  on  works  which,  if  a  rebellion  broke  out, 
might  perish  in  a  few  hours.  The  mass  of  moveable  wealth  collected  in  the 
shops  and  warehouses  of  London  alone  exceed  five  hundred  fold  that  which 
the  whole  island  contained  in  the  days  of  the  Plantagenets,  and  if  the  govern- 
ment were  subverted  by  physical  force,  all  this  moveable  wealth  would  be  ex- 
posed to  imminent  risk  of  spoliation  and  destruction.  Still  greater  would  be 
the  risk  to  public  credit  on  which  thousands  of  families  directly  depend  for 


ORATION".  11 

subsistence,  and  with  which  the  credit  of  the  whole  commercial  world  is  insepa- 
rably connected. 

It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  a  civil  war  of  a  week  on  English  ground 
would  now  produce  disasters  which  would  be  felt  from  the  Hoangho  to  the 
Missouri,  and  of  which  the  traces  would  be  discernable  at  the  distance  of  a 
century.  In  such  a  state  of  society  resistance  must  be  regarded  as  a  cure  more 
desperate  than  almost  any  malady  which  can  afflict  the  State." 

TThat  is  true  of  England  is  to  a  certain  extent  true  of  France,  and  in  the 
statements  of  the  Englisn  historian  may  be  found  some  of  the  causes  of  the 
triumph  of  Louis  Napoleon.  France  too  has  a  great  public  credit,  and  she  is 
emphatically  a  nation  of  property  holders.  Those  who  have  something,  far 
outnumber  those  who  have  nothing.  Men  were  afraid  of  the  fierce  and  radi- 
cal spirits  which  sought  to  rule,  and  like  a  vast  pendulum,  they  swung  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other.  The  great  difficulty  arises  from  their  want  of  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  the  working  of  republican  institutions.  There  is  no  want 
of  theorists,  but  they  require  that  training  which  fits  men  for  a  government 
like  ours. 

An  absolute  monarchy  where  all  laws  are  made  by  the  monarch,  and  an  un- 
restricted democracy  where  all  laws  are  enacted  directly  by  the  people,  are 
both  simple  forms  of  government  and  easily  understood.  A  republican  gov- 
ernment on  the  contrary,  like  ours,  is  of  the  most  complicated  character.  It 
can  be  understood  and  administered  only  by  an  intelligent  people.  Its  aim  is 
to  secure  liberty,  regulated  by  law — to  protect  the  person,  the  property,  and 
the  character  of  the  citizen — to  redress  grievances  either  of  the  whole  people 
or  of  any  portion  of  them,  or  of  the  individual  by  peaceable  remedies — it  pro- 
claims the  equality  of  all  men  before  the  law — it  says  to  every  one,  pursue 
your  own  fortune  as  you  please,  subject  to  those  restraints  necessary  for  the 
protection  of  your  neighbor. 

To  accomplish  these  purposes  the  power  of  him  who  governs  and  the  rights 
of  him  who  is  governed,  are  fixed  by  constitutions  and  laws :  while  the  diffe- 
rent departments  in  the  government  are  regulated  so  as  to  operate  as  checks, 
the  one  upon  the  other.  These  fixed  constitutions  and  laws  can  be  changed 
only  by  the  will  of  the  majority,  distinctly  expressed  by  their  own  voice  or 
that  of  their  representatives. 

I  have  endeavored  to  show  that  our  fathers  had  with  their  power  to  obtain 


12  OK  ATI  OX. 

their  independence,  the  requisite  knowledge,  virtue  and  experience  to  frame 
our  complicated  form  of  government,  and  to  put  it  into  full  and  successful  ope- 
ration, and  that  it  has  been  owing  to  a  want  of  this  training  which  they  enjoyed 
that  other  nations  have  not  succeeded,  when  they  have  endeavored  to  imitate 
our  example. 

Let  us  now  return  after  this  long  digression  to  Washington  and  the  Con- 
stitution. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  went  into  operation  in  1789,  at  a  time 
when  the  whole  of  Europe  was  becoming  convulsed  by  the  throes  of  the  first 
French  Revolution.  Fortunately  that  Constitution  had  provided  that  the 
foreign  relations  of  the  country  should  be  regulated  by  the  President. 

uThe  establishment  of  Justice,  in  the  intercourse  between  the  nation  and 
foreign  powers  was  thus  pre-eminently  committed  to  the  custody  of  one  man ; 
but  that  man  was  George  Washington."  Of  his  general  administration  there  is  not 
time  to  speak,  and  I  shall  content  myself  with  giving  a  brief  summary  in  the 
language  of  John  Quincy  Adams  in  his  celebrated  address  in  1839.  at  the  close 
of  the  first  half  century  from  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  It 
was  my  good  fortune  to  sit  near  the  venerable  patriot  and  statesman  on  that 
occasion,  and  to  listen  to  the  words  as  they  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  "  old  man 
eloquent."   Thus  he  says,  speaking  of  the  Constitution  : — 

"  The  first  element  of  its  longevity  was  undoubtedly  to  be  found  in  itself, 
but  we  may  without  superstition  or  fanatacism  believe  that  a  superintending 
Providence  had  adapted  to  the  character  and  principles  of  this  institution  those 
of  the  man.  by  whom  it  was  first  to  be  administered.  To  fill  a  throne  was 
neither  his  ambition  nor  his  vocation.  He  had  no  descendants  to  whom  a 
throne  could  have  been  transmitted  had  it  existed.  He  was  placed  by  the  una- 
nimous voice  of  his  country  at  the  head  of  that  government  which  they  had 
substituted  for  a  throne,  and  his  eye  looking  to  futurity  was  intent  upon  secur- 
ing to  after  ages  not  a  throne  for  a  seat  to  his  own  descendants,  but  an  im- 
moveable seat  upon  which  the  descendants  of  his  country  might  sit  in  peace, 
and  freedom  and  happiness,  if  so  it  please  heaven,  to  the  end  of  time." 
And  yet  his  administration  was  not  free  from  difficulties,  and  it  required  all 
his  firmness  to  guide  the  new  ship  of  state,  amid  the  contending  elements 
around  it.  Thus  Mr.  Adams  speaks  of  his  success.  Again  he  adds — "  In  eight 
years  of  a  turbulent  and  tempestous  administration,  Washington  had  settled 


ORATION. 


13 


■upon  firm  foundations  the  practical  execution  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States. — In  the  midst  of  the  most  appalling  obstacles,  through  the  bitterest  in- 
ternal dissensions,  and  the  most  formidable  combinations  of  foreign  antipathies 
and  cabals,  he  had  subdued  all  opposition  to  the  Constitution  itself;  had  averted 
all  dangers  of  European  war ;  had  redeemed  the  captive  children  of  his  country 
from  Algiers;  had  reduced  by  chastisement  and  conciliated  by  kindness  the 
most  hostile  Indian  tribes ;  had  restored  the  credit  of  the  nation  and  redeemed 
their  reputation  for  fidelity  to  the  performance  of  their  obligations:  had  pro- 
vided for  the  total  extinguishment  of  the  public  debt:  had  settled  the  Union 
upon  the  immoveable  foundation  of  principle,  and  had  drawn  around  his  head 
for  the  admiration  and  emulation  of  after  times,  a  brighter  blaze  of  glory  than, 
had  ever  encircled  the  brows  of  hero,  or  statesman,  patriot  or  sage." 

It  was  when  the  administration  of  Washington  was  drawing  to  its  close, 
when  after  forty-five  years  spent  in  the  service  of  his  country,  when  in  the  eve- 
ning of  his  days  in  his  own  affecting  language,  he  expected  soon  to  be  consigned 
to  the  mansions  of  rest,  that  he  issued  that  ever  memorable  farewell  address  to  his 
countrymen — that  address  which  in  the  words  of  the  late  Chief  Justice  Jay, 
"  was  to  be  read  in  this  country  and  in  foreign  countries,  and  intended  for  the 
present  and  future  generations''.  "While  addressed  to  the  people  collectively, 
and  containing  advice  and  warning  to  the  nation,  in  its  relations  with  foreign 
States,  it  at  the  same  time  presents  in  clear  and  manly  outlines,  the  duties,  and 
the  responsibilities,  of  the  individual  American  Citizen.  The  importance  of  pre- 
serving the  Union  of  these  States — the  free  and  harmonious  intercourse  among 
all  the  members — the  avoiding  of  sectional  jealousies — the  baneful  effects  of 
party  spirit — are  all  urged  upon  the  consideration  of  his  countrymen  with  that 
sincerity  and  earnestness,  which  their  importance  demands.  As  you  read,  it 
seems  as  if  Washing-ton  had  before  him  when  he  wrote,  the  condition  of  our 
country  at  the  present  time.  But  let  us  pass  and  refer  to  some  of  those  views 
which  are  more  particularly  applicable  to  us  as  individuals.  And  first,  allow 
me  to  call  attention  to  what  he  considers  the  foundation  stone  of  a  republican 
government. 

''Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political  prosperity,  reli- 
gion and  morality  are  indispensable  supports.  In  vain  would  that  man  claim 
the  tribute  of  patriotism  who  should  labor  to  subvert  these  great  pillars  of  hu- 
man happiness,  these  firmest  props  of  the  duties  of  men  and  citizens." 


14 


O  RATION. 


Well  lias  the  poet  said — 

"  He  is  a  freeman  whom  the  truth  makes  free.1' 

He  who  cherishes  the  faith  made  manifest  in  that  revelation  which  the  Creator 
has  given  to  the  creature :  he  who  takes  for  his  standard  the  lofty  morality 
which  it  teaches,  cannot  fail  to  be  a  good  citizen. 

If  apples  of  gold  should  be  set  in  pictures  of  silver,  to  please  the  eye,  let 
this  great  truth,  taught  by  the  Father  of  his  Country,  be  written  on  the  memo- 
ries of  the  American  people,  so  that  it  may  be  had  in  everlasting  remembrance. 

Having  said  that  both  reason  and  experience  forbid  us  to  expect  that  national 
morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of  religious  principle,  and  that  virtue  or 
morality  is  a  necessary  spring  of  popular  government,  he  adds  on  the  subject 
of  Education : 

"Promote  then  as  an  object  of  primary  importance  Institutions  for  the  general 
diffusion  of  knowledge. — In  proportion  as  the  structure  of  a  government  gives 
force  to  public  opinion,  it  is  essential  that  public  opinion  should  be  enlightened". 

In  some  of  the  earl)'  messages  of  Washington  he  recommended  the  establish- 
ment of  a  National  University  where  the  youth  of  the  country  might  be  edu- 
cated, to  become  statesmen  and  fitted  for  the  various  duties  of  civil  life,  and  also  a 
Military  Academy  where  young  men  might  be  trained  up  in  the  profession  of 
soldiers.  The  institution  at  West  Point,  whose  graduates  have  ennobled  the 
character  of  the  officers  of  the  American  Army,  was  early  recommended  by  the 
first  President.  The  cause  of  general  education  has  found  warm  supporters  from 
the  time  of  Washington  to  the  present,  in  most  of  the  States  of  the  Union. 

In  several  of  them  and  especially  in  our  own  Empire  State,  provision  is 
made  for  the  free  education  of  every  child.  The  laws  which  compel  the  appli- 
cation of  one  man's  property  for  the  education  of  another  man's  children  are  based 
upon  broad  principles. — -They  assume  that  in  a  government  where  all  the  people 
rule — all  the  j)eople  should  be  educated — that  property,  liberty  and  life  are  render- 
ed more  secure — and  that  in  order  that  the  republic  shall  suffer  no  harm  through 
the  ignorance  of  the  citizen,  all  shall  have  the  means  of  education  within  their 
read),  literally  without  money  and  without  price.  How  far  it  is  consistent  with 
this  great  and  noble  principle  to  throw  into  the  body  politic,  and  clothe  with 
power  a  great  mass  of  mind  often  entirely  uneducated,  I  leave  for  others  to 
determine. 


ORATIOX. 


15 


But  it  is  not  alone  in  the  education  of  the  schools  that  the  American  citizen 
should  be  trained.  A  man  may  be  a  scholar,  and  yet  be  a  slave — wanting  that 
independence  of  character,  that  individuality,  that  self-reliance,  and  that  practi- 
cal knowledge  which  lit  men  to  be  partakers  in  the  government  of  a  great 
country.  The  elector  who  casts  his  vote,  at  a  general  election  in  the  United 
States,  discharges  a  high  and  responsible  duty.  He  is  called  upon  oftentimes 
to  pass  upon  questions,  which  involve  the  foreign  interests  and  relations  of 
the  country,  and  which  according  as  they  are  settled,  may  make  for  the  weal  or 
the  woe  of  present  and  future  generations.  He  is  called  to  decide  questions 
affecting  all  the  great  industrial  pursuits — the  mercantile,  mechanical,  manufac- 
turing and  agricultural  interests  of  the  country.  In  his  own  state,  he  is,  under 
the  constitution,  literallv  a  sovereign,  having  in  one  sense  unlimited  control 
over  all  the  interests  which  legislation  can  reach.  Should  not  he  who  is  called 
upon  to  discharge  such  duties,  be  educated  and  qualified  ?  Does  it  not  require 
some  knowledge  and  some  experience,  to  be  able  to  judge  rightly  upon  all  these 
momentous  questions  ?    It  is  said  that 

Fools  rush  in  where  Angels  fear  to  t^ead.,,, 

And  yet  it  is  true  that  every  man  born  in  this  country,  and  availing  himself  of 
the  ordinary  advantages  afforded  him,  can  and  ought  to  qualify  himself  as  an 
elector.  The  duty  of  citizenship  is  cast  upon  him  by  his  birth.  It  is  not  a 
matter  of  choice,  and  he  cannot  rid  himself  of  the  obligations.  He  is  bound  to 
see  to  it  that  the  republic  suffers  no  harm.  **  Eternal  vigilance."  it  is  said.  11  is 
the  price  of  liberty."  It  is  the  price  which  every  man  in  this  country  must 
pay  for  being  tree  born.  No  man  ought  to  say  that  he  does  not  know  what 
measure  is  right,  or  what  policy  ought  to  be  pursued,  or  that  he  distrusts^all 
men  and  all  measures,  and  therefore  will  not  exercise  his  right  of  suffrage.  Such 
A  eourse  may  be  proper  in  the  subject  of  a  despot,  but  does  not  become  a  free- 
man. As  a  good  citizen,  he  is  in  mv  judgment  bound  to  examine  for  himself^ 
and  make  up  his  own  mind,  and  then  go  forward,  fearlessly  and  independently, 
in  the  discharge  of  his  duty.  When  everv  man  intelligently  expresses 
his  opinion,  you  realize  the  true  theory  of  a  republic.  Then  if  the 
citizens  are  trained  up.  and  fitted  by  education — and  if  they  recognize*  the 
teaching  of  Washington,  that  religion  and  morality  are  the  true  supports  of  a 
government,  there  need  be  no  fear  of  our  eminent  success  as  a  nation.  The 


16 


ORATION. 


views  of  Washington  in  reference  to  the  agitating  topics  of  the  day,  are  well 
understood.    In  his  address,  he  asks — 

"Why  forego  the  advantages  of  so  peculiar  a  situation  ? 

"  Why  quit  our  own  to  stand  upon  foreign  ground?  Why  by  interweaving 
our  destiny  with  that  of  any  part  of  Europe  entangle  our  peace  and  prosperity 
in  the  toils  of  European  ambition,  rivalship,  interest,  humour  or  caprice?" 

The  heart  of  a  freeman  beats  when  he  listens  to  the  stories  of  wrongs,  and  op- 
pressions, with  which  earth  is  filled;  and  it  is  natural  that  he  should  be  impa- 
tient to  aid  in  the  redress  of  those  wrongs,  and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free. — 
But  we  must  remember  that  we  are  the  trustees,  of  a  precious  trust,  "the  bless- 
ings of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity''  given  to  our  children  by  the  will  of 
our  common  ancestors,  and  we  should  see  to  it,  that  we  do  not  peril  the  treasure. 

Our  example  has  already  done  much,  for  the  cause  of  freedom ;  our  career 
nas  been  one  of  unexampled  success  and  prosperity.  We  have  shown  to  the 
world  what  freemen  and  a  free  government  can  do.  We  have  established  our 
home  upon  the  land  and  upon  the  sea.  We  have  opened  up  a  commerce  with 
all  nations. — On  every  ocean  our  ships  are  found,  carrying  our  principles,  and 
«our  enterprise. 

"  Whose  ready  sails  with  every  wind  can  fly, 
And  make  a  covenant  with  the  inconstant  sky, 
Our  oaks  secure  as  if  they  there  took  root, 
We  tread  on  billows  with  a  steady  foot". 

I  have  sometimes  thought  that  we  might  apply  to  the  nation,  the  remarks  of 
the  late  William  Wirt,  addressed  to  young  men,  on  decision  of  character. — He 
said  in  substance,  that  he  would  not  have  them  like  the  stream  meandering 
through  the  meadow,  which  is  turned  aside *by  every  trifling  obstacle — nor 
\v<  »uld  he  have  them  like  the  mountain  torrent  which  sweeps  away  every  thing 
in  its  course  and  leaves  a  rocky  and  a  dusty  channel  behind  it — but  he  would 
have  them  like  the  ocean  itself,  that  emblem  of  greatness,  which  in  its  calmest 
moments  still  heaves  its  resistless  waters  to  the  shore,  and  purifies  itself  by  its 
own  operation. 

So  our  country  should  not  like  the  meadow  brook,  be  turned  from  the  path 
of  duty,  by  the  fear  of  any  temporary  inconvenience  ;  nor  should  she,  like  the 
mountain  torrent,  rush  madly  forward  in  a  crusade  for  liberty,  involving  herself 
perhaps  in  wars  which  may  leave  ruin  and  misery  in  their  train ;  but  she  should 


ORATION. 


17 


be  like  the  mighty  oeean  in  a  calm,  rolling  a  resistless  tide,  sowing  everywhere 
the  seeds  of  freedom,  as  that  ocean  furnishes  with  water  the  clouds  which 
spread  over  the  whole  heaven,  to  be  distilled  in  the  gentle  dew  and  refreshing 
rain  all  over  the  earth. 

So  for  we  have  advanced  under  the  teachings  of  Washington  with  great 
.success.  It  was  one  of  the  maxims  of  that  wise  man,  Lord  Bacon,  "  state  super 
antiques  vias  et  videte,  qucenam  sit  via  bona  et  recta  et  ambulate  in  ea."  Stand 
upon  vour  ancient  ways,  and  look  around,  and  see  if  there  be  any  better  way, 
and  if  there  be,  walk  in  it.  That  is  the  true  doctrine.  Hold  on  to  the  old 
faith  under  which  you  and  your  fathers  have  prospered,  until  you  are  certain  of 
embracing  a  better. — If  you  are  certain  of  a  better,  then  the  path  of  duty  is 
plain. 

But  in  determining  that  question  we  should  take  counsel  of  our  judgment, 
rather  than  of  our  sympathies. 

We  come  now  to  the  closing  part  of  this  memorable  address,  in  which  he  savs 
that  he  is  unconscious  of  intentional  error  during  his  administration,  but  sen- 
sible of  his  own  defects,  he  beseeches  the  Almighty  to  avert  the  consequences  of 
any  such  errors — and  he  adds — 

"I  shall  also  carry  with  me  the  hope  that  my  country  will  never  cease  to 
view  them  with  indulgence,  and  that  after  forty-five  years  of  my  life  dedicated 
to  its  service,  with  an  upright  zeal,  the  faults  of  incompetent  abilities,  will  be 
consigned  to  oblivion,  as  myself  must  soon  be  to  the  mansions  of  rest.. — Rely- 
ing on  its  kindness  in  this  as  in  other  things,  and  actuated  by  that  fervent  love 
towards  it,  which  is  so  natural  to  a  man,  who  views  in  it  the  native  soil  of  him- 
self and  his  progenitors  for  several  generations.'' 

\Vho  has  not  been  affected,  as  he  has  read  the  narrative  which  records  the 
closing  scenes  in  the  eventful  life  of  the  patriarch  Jacob. — 

He  had  given  his  farewell  address  to  his  children. — His  days  were  numbered. 
"  And  he  charged  them  and  said  unto  them,  I  am  to  be  gathered  unto  my  peo- 
ple ;  bury  me  with  my  fathers  in  the  cave  that  is  in  the  field  of  Ephron,  the 
pittite,"  for  says  he  "there  they  buried  Abraham  and  Sarah  his  wife  :  there 
they  buried  Isaac  and  Rebekah  his  wife,  and  there  I  buried  Leah,"  and  turning 
away  from  the  costly  mausoleums,  the  painted  tombs,  the  sculptured  monu- 
ments, the  last  resting  places  of  the  nobles,  and  monarchs,  of  Egypt,  the  thoughts 
of  the  dying  patriarch  went  back  to  the  home  of  his  youth,  to  the  spot  where 


18 


ORATION. 


the  ashes  ol  his  fathers  reposed,  to  the  simple  cave  of  Machpelah  in  the  land 
of  Canaan. 

A  fervent  love  of  country  is  natural  to  a  man,  who  views  in  it  his  native 
soil,  and  the  country  of  his  birth,  if  it  is  worthy  of  his  love,  must  always  have 
the  strongest  hold  upon  the  affections  of  the  citizen.  This  love  of  home,  and  of 
country  is  natural  to  the  human  heart.  It  dwells  in  the  bosom  of  the  savage, 
and  of  the  civilized  man.  The  wild  Indian  feels  it  when  he  retreats  towards  the 
setting  sun,  because  civilization  has  hewn  down  his  forests,  and  driven  its 
ploughshare  over  the  graves  of  his  ancestors. 

u  May  he  love  his  country  .as  I  love  mine"  was  the  blassing  invoked  by  Kos- 
suth, on  a  child  presented  to  him  as  bearing  his  name  in  western  Pennsylvania. 
The  great  Hungarian  leader  struck  the  finest  chord  of  sympathy,  when  he  spoke 
of  his  poor  down  trodden  fatherland.  We  too  have  a  fatherland,  glorious  and 
free,  and  blessed  be  the  memories  of  those,  who  have  given  it  to  us  as  an  in- 
heritance. 

And  now  will  you  follow  the  advice  of  him,  the  anniversary  of  whose  birth 
we  this  day  celebrate,  of  him  who  was  first  in  peace,  first  in  war,  and  first  in 
the  hearts  of  his  countrymen?  Will  you  seek  to  promote  the  spread  of  religion 
and  good  morals — will  you  advance  the  cause  of  education  among  the  youth, 
and  of  political  education  among  all  the  people?  Will  you  cherish  and  love 
yourselves,  and  teach  your  children  to  cherish  and  love  the  Institutions  of  our 
country,  and  our  native  land?  then  you  will  discharge  your  duties  as  good 
citizens;  then  posterity  shall  bless  your  memories,  and  your  children  and  your 
children's  children,  shall  keep  this  Anniversary. 


£x  ICthrtH 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  hook 

Because  it  has  heen  said 
"Ever'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  hook." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 

